Lafayette native Travis Ewing got three chairs to turn when he hit the stage on NBC’s “The Voice” Monday night, wowing judges with his own version of Destiny Child’s “Say My Name.” The 23-year-old LSU graduate chose to work with producer Pharrell Williams over Christina Aguilera and Blake Shelton, who tried to woo Ewing with a shout… Continue reading →

The Baton Rouge native Louis Herthum-starring Toyota commercial, which first aired during the 2015 Super Bowl, got a controversial parody on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.” The original, feel-good television ad, opening with the words “Being a dad is more that being a father,” shows actor Herthum ever-present for his young on-screen daughter during poignant moments… Continue reading →

NEW YORK — Will Smith’s con-man caper “Focus” disrobed “Fifty Shades of Grey” at the box office, but the film’s modest $19.1 million opening still left questions about the drawing power of the once unstoppable star. According to studio estimates Sunday, Warner Bros.’ “Focus” easily topped all competitors on a weekend with little competition at North… Continue reading →

If the mark of a good con artist is that he or she makes you think you know exactly what’s going on — when of course you haven’t a clue — that’s also the mark of a good con-artist movie, isn’t it? To make you feel like you totally get what’s about to happen — “Oh yeah,… Continue reading →

Classic British invasion band The Zombies will play the first New Orleans show in the band’s history March 12 at House of Blues. The Zombies released the hits “She’s Not There,” “Tell Her No” and “Time of the Season” in the 1960s. The group’s 1967 album, “Odessey and Oracle,” is considered a classic now,… Continue reading →

What do Bill Murray, Tina Fey and Stephen Colbert have in common? They got their start at the nation’s original improv theater group, Second City. No comedy joint in the world has produced so many superstars over the years, and to celebrate that legacy and its 55th anniversary, one of Second City’s many troupes is… Continue reading →

In 2005, a huge part of the Downtown Development District’s “Baton Rouge 2000” plan came into fruition with the opening of the Shaw Center for the Arts. Inside, the curtain opened on the dome-shaped Manship Theatre. This year the now well-established and esteemed theater is celebrating in a way that only a theater can, with its… Continue reading →

In August, Texas singer-songwriter Billy Joe Shaver released “Long in the Tooth,” his first album since 2008. Shaver, who hit a landmark birthday on Aug. 16, really loves his new batch of songs. As usual, they’re autobiographical. “To be honest, you almost have to write about yourself,” Shaver said from Waco, his home in the heart… Continue reading →

Diana Ross is making her third Louisiana appearance in recent years at the Saenger Theatre in New Orleans Saturday. The queen of Berry Gordy’s Motown Records empire in the 1960s, Ross previously performed at the Saenger and the Baton Rouge River Center Theatre in 2013. Ross, of course, led Motown’s most successful act,… Continue reading →

In 2010, Americana singer-songwriter Ryan Bingham, with co-writer T Bone Burnett, won the Grammy for Best Original Song for “The Weary Kind,” the theme song for the Jeff Bridges film “Crazy Heart.” He doesn’t know where the trophy is, nor does he know what it did for him.… Continue reading →

The Baton Rouge area calendar is a listing of events taking place in Baton Rouge and surrounding areas from Feb. 27 - March 4, 2015. It covers music, plays, shows, parties, family-oriented entertainment and everything in between. Continue reading →

“Brotherhood” is the album Eric and Leigh Gibson wanted to make for years. Usually, The Gibson Brothers write their own songs, but with “Brotherhood,” they interpret songs by bluegrass greats the Stanley Brothers, Jim and Jesse McReynolds, The Monroe Brothers and the Louvin Brothers. “We talked about it for maybe 10… Continue reading →

FRIED FISH FUNDRAISER: 11 a.m.-2 p.m., St. Augustine Catholic Church, 809 New Roads St., New Roads. $8 per plate; $1 for drinks. Orders of five or more can be delivered. (225) 638-2947. Every Friday during Lent.… Continue reading →

Baton Rouge seems to be big and Tex-Mexy enough to support at least one taco truck. What about a taco restaurant? Looks like we’re going to find out. There is more to the Taco Chops Cantina menu than tacos, but not by a whole lot. Its owners, who grew up in Mexico, are betting the ranch… Continue reading →

The Shows to Watch calendar is a listing of events taking place in Baton Rouge and surrounding areas from Feb. 27-March 5, 2015. It covers rock, reggae, jazz, country and everything in between. Continue reading →

The New Orleans area calendar is a listing of events taking place in New Orleans and surrounding areas from Feb. 27 - March 5, 2015. It covers music, plays, shows, parties, family-oriented entertainment and everything in between. Continue reading →

This weekend’s Eagle Expo and More in Morgan City again celebrates the return of the American Bald Eagle to Louisiana. The eagle was removed from the endangered species list in June 2007. Laws banning the use of harmful pesticides such as DDT and greater public awareness and education have increased the bald eagle population throughout Louisiana and… Continue reading →

As an Israeli restaurant, the newly-opened Shaya doesn’t have much precedent in New Orleans. But it does have plenty of familiar touchstones. Meals start with pita bread, hot from the wood-fired oven in the dining room. And the menu offers falafel, lamb kebabs and hummus (in four varieties) before any potentially new vocabulary comes your… Continue reading →

Wanted: local short films. Louisiana Public Broadcasting is seeking the work of budding filmmakers for the 2015 PBS Online Film Festival. The national online festival encourages independent filmmakers to submit their unique, thought-provoking creations for possible entry to the festival. The only restrictions are that the films must be between… Continue reading →

When a game has “1886” in the title, you expect to see a few familiar characters: Sherlock Holmes, perhaps, or Jack the Ripper, or Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. You don’t expect the lead to be Sir Galahad. And yet, here the crusty old geezer is starring in “The Order: 1886” (Sony, for the PlayStation 4,… Continue reading →

NEW YORK (AP) — For this week’s “Modern Family,” producers put down their expensive professional cameras and shot the episode with iPhones and other Apple devices. Seen through the eyes of character Claire Dunphy as she uses a Mac laptop, characters only appear on her computer’s FaceTime video-calling app. The Associated Press spoke with series co-creator and… Continue reading →

“McFarland, USA” tells a heartwarming story about underdogs who, to the surprise of everyone, including themselves, establish a sports dynasty. The all-Latino cross-country Cougar teammates at McFarland High School, residents of California’s farm-heavy Central Valley, aren’t the story’s only underdogs. Their coach, Jim White, a non-Latino newcomer to the McFarland community, is, in the… Continue reading →

“Hot Tub Time Machine 1” turned up the comic crudeness and 1980s color palette to a glaring 10. In the 2010 farce, a trio of middle-aged losers time trip to the happiest weekend of their lives. Adam, Lou and Nick return to the Kodiak Valley ski resort during Winterfest 86. Their shocking second chance changes their… Continue reading →

All teen comedies owe some debt to John Hughes and Amy Heckerling. The milieu of suburban teenage life that they explored decades ago has defined the genre since. The social divisions, the boredom, the dances, the irrepressible awkwardness and the irrational dreaminess of high school students never before seemed so accessible, and so neatly packaged with… Continue reading →

Music lover Chris Maxwell opened the original Red Dragon Listening Room location in 2003. He wanted to fill the void left by the closing of Marian Pickett’s M’s Fine and Mellow Café in 2002. Pickett’s Third Street music venue and restaurant was a listening room. If patrons were too loud during performances, Pickett shushed them herself.… Continue reading →

The Harlem Globetrotters have had more famous players than Julian “Zeus” McClurkin. The famous team of basketball barnstormers has had taller players, faster players, niftier ballhandlers and better shooters. But they may have never had anyone who wanted to play basketball more than this rookie forward. McClurkin, 28, will be part of the hoops and hilarity… Continue reading →

Normally, I’m a big fan of a limited menu. A restaurant that tries to be all things to all people usually ends up being nothing to anyone, and a reasonably small menu often means that everything on there is done well. Spice Bistro and Bar’s Southern-fried menu has one more thing going for it. It’s full… Continue reading →

Nora Helmer’s husband treats her as an object in their marriage, a songbird meant for entertainment. A doll to be put away when the playing’s done. As a result, Nora has never thought of herself as a person with thoughts and ideas until Torvald falls ill. She knows she must do whatever it takes to save… Continue reading →

If actor Rob Corddry is to be believed, the real purpose behind the making of “Hot Tub Time Machine 2” in New Orleans the during summer of 2013 was to get Corddry and his co-stars Craig Robinson and Clark Duke back on a Mardi Gras float. On Sunday during the Krewe of Bacchus parade,… Continue reading →

The episode’s title was “Rabbit of Seville,” where Elmer Fudd chases Bugs Bunny through the stage door of the Hollywood Bowl. Bugs tricks his adversary into going on stage, where their chase is punctuated by the overture to Gioachino Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville,” which the LSU Symphonic Winds will perform immediately… Continue reading →

Former Southeastern Louisiana University basketball player Nate “Big Easy” Lofton, a member of the Harlem Globetrotters since 2005, set a Guinness World Record for making the longest hook shot, the Globetrotters announced recently. Lofton made the shot from 61 feet 4 inches, smashing the old record of 55 feet 9 inches,… Continue reading →

The Baton Rouge area calendar is a listing of events taking place in Baton Rouge and surrounding areas from Feb. 20-26, 2015. It covers music, plays, shows, parties, family-oriented entertainment and everything in between. Continue reading →

The Shows to Watch calendar is a listing of events taking place in Baton Rouge and surrounding areas from Feb. 20-26, 2015. It covers rock, reggae, jazz, country and everything in between. Continue reading →

Words on the page become so much more each week at the Eclectic Truth open mic and poetry slam. “It’s how well the poem is written, as well as how well the poem is performed,” Poetry Alliance president Donney Rose said of how the poems presented in a slam are judged. “You’re looking for certain nuances, if… Continue reading →

The trombone-led rock/funk band Bonerama first made its mark with a 2001 cover of the Edgar Winter Group’s instrumental, “Frankenstein,” and it has rearranged other greatest hits of rock, by Black Sabbath, Jimi Hendrix and The Allman Brothers, to name a few. On Friday at the House of Blues, Bonerama will double down on its classic… Continue reading →

The New Orleans area calendar is a listing of events taking place in New Orleans and surrounding areas from Feb. 20-26, 2015. It covers music, plays, shows, parties, family-oriented entertainment and everything in between. Continue reading →

An impressive-looking dish can pause the conversation when it arrives. The oyster log at Trenasse, however, looked like it could stop traffic. A lacquered slab of cypress nearly as long as our four-top table, the log was like a diorama of three dozen oysters ($59). Some sizzled with garlic butter, some were prepared… Continue reading →

Drake IF YOU’RE READING THIS IT’S TOO LATE For as long as Drake’s been around, almost everything about him — his Mr. Sensitive image, his sweater collection, his cheesy photos with various professional athletes — has been the subject of a never-ending stream of Internet memes. Still, Drake and his talent are no joke, and… Continue reading →

LONDON — Eddie Murphy biggest success in music came on his first try, with the 1985 smash “Party All the Time.” After that, not much was heard from the entertainer on the musical front — but he kept on plugging away at it out of the spotlight. “When I’m not acting and being funny,… Continue reading →

MALIBU, Calif. — Kenny G still has something to prove. The biggest-selling instrumental artist of the modern era is recognized worldwide — particularly in China — for his smooth saxophone skills and trademark mop of curly hair. Sure, he’s long been a punch line for “South Park” and musical purists, but generally laughs off… Continue reading →

The monsters in “Evolve” (2K Games, for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, $59.99) don’t seem that scary at first glance. Ugly, yes, but nothing your arsenal of flamethrowers and rocket launchers can’t handle. Unfortunately, if you leave the critters alone for just a few minutes they mutate into bone-crushing behemoths that can make short work of… Continue reading →

The Essence Festival announced its first round of 2015 talent Wednesday. The musical component of the 21st Essence Festival, taking place July 2-5 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, will include rap star Kendrick Lamar, in his Essence debut, and returning Essence favorite Mary J. Blige. Other artists will include rapper-actor Common, whose collaboration with singer… Continue reading →